Debates of June 11th, 1999

Agriculture

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday hon. members were saying that they wanted to see the minister of agriculture beyond the borders of Ontario. Now that he is going beyond the borders of Ontario, they do not want to see him. They cannot have it both ways.

The minister is going out to talk to producers to see firsthand what the problems are and he will take steps to solve those problems.

[John Solomon, NDP, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, farmers have been facing one disaster after another: depression level commodity prices and then the slashing of domestic subsidies like the Crow benefit which led to last year's farm income disaster. Now flooding is causing a natural disaster. In response to these disasters, we have another man-made disaster, the government's AIDA program.

Will the government listen to prairie farmers who have spent about 30 hours each filling out their AIDA application forms, only to find out they are not eligible? Will the government fix the AIDA program and truly help western farmers? Or, will farmers be facing a third man-made disaster from the Liberal government by themselves?

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

Mr. Speaker, the government has responded to every disaster that has occurred in western Canada. It has responded with a $1.5 billion program to help those farmers.

What we ask the farmers to do and what we ask hon. members opposite to do is to spend their summer helping their farmers fill out their application forms, because every other farmer in Canada is doing it and they are getting money for it.

Airbus

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, serious allegations of wrongdoing involving private holdings, campaign donations and questionable use of taxpayer money continues to plague the Prime Minister. As evidence mounts and the plot thickens, the grey fog rolls in to present the Liberal spin to cloak the facts and cover the tracks.

Now that the shoe is on the other foot, when will the government withdraw this spurious letter of baseless allegations against Mr. Mulroney sent to Swiss authorities and call an end to the ill-founded airbus investigation?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague opposite has a hard time understanding the answers we give day after day to his questions, which are always the same.

I will repeat for the 51st or 52nd time the same answer: the federal government has no intention of meddling in the decisions of the RCMP, of conducting an inquiry or of stopping an inquiry. It is not our role. Ours is a legislative role. The RCMP's is an investigative role.

We have no business meddling, especially since this investigation was recognized in the agreement reached with Mr. Mulroney at the time. I really do not understand why my colleague opposite cannot comprehend that.

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have come to expect stonewalling and delay every time they come in conflict with the Liberal government. When issues arise citizens face a barrage of government lawyers intent on foot dragging and legal manoeuvring.

A second named party in the airbus debacle now has a $50 million lawsuit pending against the Canadian government. My question is for the architect of airbus, the Deputy Prime Minister. Does the Liberal government intend to settle this matter the way it did with Mr. Mulroney, or does it intend to be dragged kicking and screaming through the courts before facing a final costly, humiliating verdict?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the lawsuit to which the hon. member referred that was settled involved Mr. Mulroney absolutely dropping his claim for damages. Second, what was paid was simply the legal costs.

In the written minutes of settlement signed on behalf of Mr. Mulroney, he recognized that the RCMP had a perfect right to begin the investigation and to carry it out.

The hon. member ought to read the minutes of settlement and pass on to some other matters of real concern to Canadians.

Immigration

[Grant McNally, Reform, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister continues to use refugees as a revenue source. The minister claims that in the fall she will examine the $975 right of landing fee which she forces refugees to pay when they apply for permanent residence status.

The Canadian public, all opposition parties, and indeed members of the Liberal cabinet, are calling for the elimination of this fee now. Why will the minister not act today to stop taxing refugees, vulnerable people who are seeking the protection of Canada?

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, let me say that the member is wrong again. He seems to be a rather slow learner. We went through the same process in the House last night.

If we take the question of the refugees, particularly the ones from Kosovo right now, let me inform the member that the government has no fees for any of the refugees coming in. As a matter a fact the government has put forward $100 million to take care of these refugees.

For the member to stand in the House to try to create an issue where there is none does a disservice to the generosity of Canadians.

[Grant McNally, Reform, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if there is anybody who is wrong it is members of the Liberal government. They are the ones that continue to impose the head tax on refugees. In fact, they had an opportunity to remedy the situation yesterday in committee and instead voted down a motion to remove the head tax. They continue to tax refugees and they know it.

In 1996 the Liberal Party called for the elimination of the head tax. Why is the government intent on ripping off refugees? Why does it not do the right thing and eliminate the head tax here, now, today?

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, let me categorically say that there is no head tax in the country.

For the member to stand and trivialize a very tragic time in the history of the country when Chinese Canadians suffered is despicable. I understand that the Reform Party has an identity crisis. It does not know if it is coming or going. However this party is for refugees and this party is for immigration, unlike the Reform Party.

Millennium Scholaarships

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as an example of doctrinaire and rigid nation building, it would be hard to improve on this government's approach to the millennium scholarships.

After a battle in parliament and in the media, the minister has given way a little and is talking with the Quebec minister of education, but just on the phone as he refuses to meet with the Quebec minister.

With this obstinacy and rigidity, has the Minister of Human Resources Development not just demonstrated that Quebec is doomed to a never-ending battle to protect its constitutional areas of jurisdiction from a system which—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.

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

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House of one thing: our government is very vigilant about not encroaching on areas of Quebec jurisdiction. We have been saying that for a year now.

We have negotiated agreements with Alberta and Ontario, and now all of Quebec is calling for them as well, the students and the universities, to such an extent that the Government of Quebec has finally agreed to sit down and negotiate based on the Gautrin resolution.

Here I see the Bloc Quebecois trying to play petty politics at a time when we are trying to serve the students of Quebec who will at last be able to take advantage of Canadian government assistance in funding their studies.

They are our priority, not those people over there.

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development is still doggedly insisting on defending the indefensible and at throwing out meaningless slogans and platitudes.

Is the Minister of Human Resources Development, Claude Ryan's former chief of staff, not moved by the words of his former guru to reflect on the severe judgment his former boss has made on his behaviour, his government and the evolution of Canadian federalism?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would encourage the members of the Bloc Quebecois to read my book Pour une politique de confiance . They were not willing to engage in a true substantive debate. I think they would notice that there is a consistent thought and a constructive proposal, which young people throughout Quebec are beginning to appreciate considerably, because it opens up their futures.

We are not proposing the status quo. We are not proposing the Quebec model of the 1960s. We are proposing an open society. The narrowness of the past, which is the obsession of the Bloc members, holds no interest for young Quebecers. We are helping them finance their studies in a dynamic society that is not stuck in the past.

Justice

[Chuck Cadman, Reform, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general claims to be getting serious about drugs in the prisons.

Three inmates from the women's prison in Kitchener were recently convicted for conspiring to traffic in the penitentiary. One got nine months and the other two got one day each to be served currently with sentences already being served.

If the solicitor general is so serious about the prison drug problem, I ask the parliamentary secretary if his boss considered speaking with his colleague, the Minister of Justice, about mandating sentences for drug trafficking in prisons to be served consecutively to sentences already being served.

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to point out briefly that the inmates who tried to bring drugs into the penitentiary were prevented from doing so by the institution, which is a tribute to the work that has been done to keep drugs out of the penitentiary.

Second, I thank my hon. colleague for raising the issue of drugs in prison, because I would like to bring something important to his attention. The following are currently in place to try to eliminate the drug problem in prisons: prerelease program for addicts, random urine testing, the ALTO program in Quebec, the CHOICES program pretty well all over the country, the national awareness program designed—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Calgary East.

Export Development Act

[Deepak Obhrai, Reform, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister for International Trade is mandated to conduct a review of the Export Development Act.

All indications from his department and the law firm contracted to perform the review were that the report would be presented to parliament by the end of May.

I ask the minister where is this report.

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

It will soon come, Mr. Speaker.

World Trade Organization

[Benoît Sauvageau, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on the eve of the 1995 referendum, this government passed a distinct society resolution. If it wants to do more than pay lip service to this resolution, now is its golden opportunity.

My question is for the current Minister for International Trade. Does the minister intend to give Quebec a spot on the World Trade Organization delegation?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, at the last federal-provincial conference for ministers of trade, not only did the minister of trade for the province of Quebec agree with the entire agenda, he actually complimented the federal government on how it had been able to consult, not only with Quebec, but with all of the provinces.

“If it ain't broken”, the Quebec minister said, “don't fix it”.

[Benoît Sauvageau, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the government intends to abandon the principle of cultural exception—for the Minister of Canadian Heritage, I repeat that that was cultural exception—at the next WTO negotiations. This confirms what Quebec feared, namely that it cannot count on others to defend its special character.

Does the current Minister for International Trade not think that this is one more reason that Quebec should have a spot at the WTO negotiations?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Human Resources Development said moments ago, there are two reasons that the Quebec culture has flourished. First, it is because of Quebecers themselves and, second, it is because they have been able to live in the best country in the world which promotes diversity and uniqueness.