Debates of May 5th, 1999

Aboriginal Affairs

[The Speaker]

Order, please. We will hear the minister of Indian affairs.

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank you because this is very important. The charter of rights and freedoms states that nothing that we will do shall abrogate or derogate from any aboriginal treaty or other rights or freedoms that pertain to the aboriginal peoples of Canada, including any rights or freedoms that have been recognized by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and any rights or freedoms that now exist by way of land claims agreements or may so be acquired.

These are the highest laws of the land. They protect aboriginal rights. We have a process to reconcile those rights in a modern Canada. What is Reform's strategy for dealing with that?

Bill C-68

[Michel Bellehumeur, Bloc, Berthier—Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice received a letter from her Quebec counterpart requesting that Bill C-68 be amended so as to exempt Quebec from the application of this legislation. This request represents a very broad consensus of lawyers, judges, police officers, educators, social workers and decision makers in Quebec.

Does the minister intend to respond favourably to this broadly based request from Quebec and introduce an amendment? Yes or no? That is all I ask. I would like a yes or a no. Is the minister going to amend her legislation?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said on a number of occasions in this House in response to questions from the hon. member, our youth justice legislation is based on an acknowledgement of diversity of approach and concern in this country and it is based upon the important principle of flexibility. For example, our youth justice legislation puts a premium on crime prevention. We believe it is better to prevent youth crime before it happens. It puts a premium on rehabilitation and reintegration for young people after they have broken the law.

I wonder if the hon. member could share with us which of those principles he and the people of Quebec disagree with.

[Michel Bellehumeur, Bloc, Berthier—Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister cannot even answer an extremely simple question with a yes or a no.

By sticking to this position, the minister is contradicting Quebec's lawyers, judges, police officers, educators and decision makers.

Does the minister really think she alone is right when all these stakeholders are saying that her bill threatens Quebec's approach, which is working well in Quebec?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, indeed our youth justice legislation is based on broad consultations all across the country. I only have one question for the hon. member. I would like him to precisely define for me, here today or at some time in the future, that which he and the attorney general of Quebec would like to do which is not possible under our proposed legislation. I believe in facts. He will find that that which Quebec wishes to do and is doing today will be done after this legislation is passed.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Indian affairs minister quoted from the charter of rights and freedoms. I would like to quote to her a constitutional expert named Pierre Elliott Trudeau on the same subject. He said: “Our government passed a law recognizing self-government rights in native peoples and it is from that that much has followed. We made the point very specifically at that time that the self-government within a territory must not be exclusively based on one ethnic or linguistic group”.

Why is this government departing from that fundamental principle which at one time it supported?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, let me explain something to the hon. member opposite. When we listen to the president of the Nisga'a talk about the decades it has taken for them to negotiate their way into this country, to feel that they can be part of something that we are all a part of, to have the opportunity to share in the economic and social benefits of this great nation, we understand why settling this long outstanding obligation and doing it in the context of building strong self-reliant first nations governments like the Nisga'a is so critically important to us all.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I asked a specific question and I will repeat it.

Does the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development agree, yes or no, with Mr. Trudeau's interpretation that self-government within a territory must not be exclusively based on one ethnic or linguistic group, which is the central feature of the Nisga'a treaty?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, what I believe and what the government believes is that we have to stand true to the Constitution and to the charter of rights of the country. In the Constitution of Canada aboriginal rights are recognized and must be protected.

The challenge we have in a modern Canada is to identify those rights and to negotiate with first nations, and in some cases with the provinces, as the Government of Canada on how to reconcile rights in today's Canada.

We have a effective process that is giving us certainty and is allowing us to make economic investments in a part of the country that can use. It is beyond me—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière.

Lévis Shipyard

[Antoine Dubé, Bloc, Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Lévis shipyard has just been given a four month reprieve to resolve its problems and find a buyer.

The person with one of the main keys to the solution is the federal Minister of Industry, who is refusing, however, to lift his pinky to help the shipbuilding industry, even though Liberal supporters are encouraging him to do so.

Does the minister realize that, if the Lévis shipyard closes, it will largely be his fault?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, Davie Industries is now under the protection of the Bankruptcy Act. They have just got more time, until September 15 of this year, to make a proposal to their creditors.

I believe two firms, one American and one European, have indicated an interest. I also believe that, because of the fierce competition among shipbuilders, the Asian crisis and the low price of oil, the time is perhaps not the best. However, we will continue to work with them through this difficult period.

Student Loan System

[Aileen Carroll, Liberal, Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, students in my riding often find it hard to obtain loans.

Could the minister tell this House what measures he has taken recently to improve and simplify the student loan system in Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am impressed indeed that my colleague asked her question in perfect French.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to announce the most important change to the student loan system in Canada in 35 years.

The Government of Canada signed milestone agreements with the provinces of New Brunswick and Ontario to harmonize student loans. They will simplify the student loan system by ensuring that students only have to deal with one set of rules, one interest rate and one repayment schedule. This is one way the social union can help.

Dangerous Offenders

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of serious offenders getting unescorted public bus passes to go from one prison to another is now a bit more serious.

I was informed by a senior government official that John Cassibo, a high risk sex offender, was given a bus ticket on March 10, 1999, to go from Kingston maximum to Keele centre in Toronto, and guess what? He was a no-show, kaput, a goner.

How many serious offenders are travelling by public bus in the country and how many are unlawfully at large?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, public safety is always the number one issue.

Again it is important to get the facts straight. No prisoner is transferred from one prison, medium, minimum or maximum, to another prison unescorted. To indicate that is incorrect.

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this fellow here needs some lessons from people who know what they are talking about.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I would prefer that we refer to each other as hon. members.

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I should ask which escort service they are using in Corrections Canada.

I want to quote this public official. “He, John Cassibo, the high risk sex offender, told corrections officers he had no intentions to go to Keele”. She also told me this was only the tip of the iceberg of this problem and “Corrections don't want the public to know all these guys are out there”.

I would like to know again how many more repeat high risk sex offenders, or any other serious offenders for that matter, are going on these buses and are unescorted.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the member is referring to offenders who are on conditional release. They are going from an institution to a halfway house to be integrated back into society.

I just wish my hon. colleague would quit trying to put undue fear into the Canadian public.

The Environment

[Peter Mancini, NDP, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Finance or whoever wants to take responsibility.

Since the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the cleanup of the Sydney tar ponds eight months ago, a number of health studies have identified alarmingly high cancer rates and other serious illnesses. Yet since that signing not one ounce of identified toxic waste has been cleaned up. Nor is there any indication it will be.

I have a simple question. Was there a specific funding commitment in the recent federal budget for the cleanup of the tar ponds and if not, why not?

[Christine Stewart, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the Sydney tar ponds issue is of as great concern to the government as it is to the provincial government and as it is to the local community in Cape Breton.

We are carefully supporting the JAG process, the process that brings together all levels of government with private citizens.

We have provided funding to this group. There have been studies done. There has been some remediation going on. The process is ongoing. We will be there with the funding as is requested by the JAG.

[Peter Mancini, NDP, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the concern of the minister. I would go further and ask if she could explain to the House and the people of Whitney Pier, who have contaminated toxic sludge bubbling up in their basements and yards where their children play, why nothing has been done about their concerns.

I have another simple question. Will the government relocate the people on Frederick Street and surrounding area?