Debates of June 3rd, 1999

Nisga'A Treaty

[John Reynolds, Reform, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Nisga'a treaty is a $490 million land claim treaty that gives significant self-government powers and 2,000 square kilometres of land to 5,500 Nisga'a band members.

There are some frightening and constitutionally questionable aspects to this treaty. Until now, governmental power in Canada was divided among federal and provincial governments. The Nisga'a creates a new level of government, the Nisga'a national government.

The new government will have power to tax without representation by virtue of its race based premise and to entrench inequality for aboriginal women. The treaty will allow the Nisga'a to pass laws over timber, water, fisheries and wildlife.

The NDP government in British Columbia rammed this treaty through the legislature with closure. Now the federal government is looking for a rubber stamp.

Today the Reform Party urges the government to refer this treaty to the supreme court to determine, before we proceed down the road of creating mini states in British Columbia, if the treaty constitutes an amendment to our constitution and if individual rights are usurped by this national government.

If the treaty is on solid ground, the federal government should welcome this determination.

Liberal Party Of Canada

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by accusing leaders from the Quebec City region of indifference for not responding to the partisan and hasty invitation from Liberals last week, the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Agri-Food has revealed his lack of leadership.

The minister's statements show that he is more concerned with his party's visibility than with the socioeconomic development of the greater Quebec City area. The Bloc Quebecois, on the other hand, is working towards maintaining constant contact with the socioeconomic and community stakeholders in this area. Freedom to participate sits much better.

Instead of citing the Bloc Quebecois's presence in Ottawa as the reason for the breakdown in communications, the minister should apologize and admit that the Bloc Quebecois has often been right in its attacks on the Liberal government's mishandling of issues.

But his government knows what this issues are: repairs to the Quebec City bridge, raw milk cheese, cruise ship casinos, and icebreaking fees are just some of them.

Where was the Liberal member for Bellechasse—Etchemins—Montmagny—L'Islet when it came to defending these issues—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Churchill River.

The New Millennium

[Rick Laliberte, NDP, Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker,

I rise today to give tribute to all the high school graduates that are celebrating as the last graduating class of this millennium.

We wish to encourage all young Canadians to seek a fulfilling and challenging life such as the fulfilling and challenging times this beautiful country has endured.

The millennium marks a milestone for all our journeys. This is a time to reflect on what we can do to make our communities and our homes a better place to be.

Let us pray that our mother the earth can sustain the lives of our children and our children to come, and to all our relations.

Kosovo

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, today the Serbian parliament voted to accept the G-8 peace proposal for Kosovo. This is obviously encouraging news to all members but there are still a number of conditions to be met before this proposal can be implemented.

Will the Prime Minister tell the House whether this actually constitutes a breakthrough and what is the next step in implementing the G-8 proposal?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Leader of the Opposition for his very pertinent question.

Yes, it is a breakthrough and I am very happy that a minute ago the President of Finland made a statement that President Milosevic has accepted the proposition we received yesterday. That is subject to verification because now the NATO military people and the military people of Yugoslavia will meet to bring about the implementation of the agreement, and the eventual stopping of the bombing and withdrawal of troops from Kosovo.

We have to go to the United Nations for a resolution to be approved because the troops that will be going there will be going through the authority of the United Nations. It is much better than what we were obliged to do before with NATO.

This is not sure because sometimes there are developments that could stop the process. I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the parties in the House of Commons who have sustained NATO in this endeavour.

It looks as though within hours cleansing policies that we fought against will be terminated. Hopefully very soon the Kosovars will return safely to their homes and villages in Kosovo and that freedom and prosperity will come eventually after such a terrible period of their lives.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the defence minister demonstrated this week that his level of access to the powerbrokers in NATO is embarrassingly low. This is despite the fact that Canada is one of the few nations actually participating in the NATO air campaign.

Canada of course cannot afford to be left out, like our defence minister was last week, of key negotiations now with either our NATO partners or with the Serbs.

What active measures is Canada taking to ensure that the G-8 proposal is enacted as quickly as possible?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I explained yesterday that it was a coincidence that the United States minister of defence was in Europe. He met with some ministers of defence of Europe who were having a meeting.

I want to point out that we are involved. In fact we have been involved since the visit of our Minister of Foreign Affairs to Russia and they started to talk about a way using the United Nations. We were among the initiators of the meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the G-8 that led to the eight conditions.

I do think that both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of National Defence have acted very well on that and on behalf of all members of parliament. We have shown a solidarity that was reflected in the solidarity of NATO. Apparently the policy has been accepted by Mr. Milosevic at this moment and was voted for by the parliament in Belgrade. We hope now that everything will proceed very swiftly.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the acceptance of the G-8 proposal will likely mean that Canadian forces will be deployed on the ground in Kosovo in the coming weeks.

We know the equipment that our troops have but it is unclear exactly what their role will be in terms of its magnitude or its duration. Will the Prime Minister tell the House precisely what Canada's military commitment will be to back up the G-8 plan? Will he seek a mandate from this House in support of that commitment?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, tonight there is to be a NATO meeting of the council to discuss the implementation of the agreement.

We have already committed 800 people who have been moving there. Some are already there and the rest will go there. There is a request that we send some more but at this moment we have to look at what it is for and at what type of forces and equipment will be needed. It will take some days before we know for sure.

We want to make our proportional contribution as in the past. As it is going to be a peacekeeping operation we will inform the House. There will be a briefing as usual on that. Happily there are no ground troops going there to fight. I am very happy that again Canadians will be involved in peacekeeping.

Government Contracts

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, here is why controversy is swirling around the Prime Minister. A Quebec fundraiser is convicted of influence peddling for using grants to get donations to the Liberal Party. Convicted criminals and self-confessed embezzlers get millions in grants and the Prime Minister's own representative is being investigated by the RCMP. Now we find that the Prime Minister himself is closely connected to friends with big government contracts, big land deals and big campaign donations to the Liberal Party.

Why can the Prime Minister not see there is something sick in Shawinigan?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have to tell the hon. member the news from Shawinigan. There was a program yesterday on which they said that they were very happy the people realized the member for Saint-Maurice was working for his riding. What a very nice twist. I have never had better campaigners for my election than the Reform Party.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Saint-Maurice says that he is just doing his job. The job of a member of parliament does not include getting grants for people who may benefit the member's own personal holdings and political campaigns—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Go directly to the question please.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, how on earth did the Prime Minister who promised to take political ethics to a new height allow himself to be compromised in such an obvious way?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have a list of 25 members of the Reform Party who have benefited from the same program. There is an old saying that when you throw mud you lose ground, which is what is happening at this moment to the Reform Party.

Kosovo

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

Mr. Speaker, we now know that the G-8 peace plan has been accepted and that Yugoslavia has agreed to NATO's five conditions.

Does the Prime Minister not think it is time that NATO immediately stopped the bombing, in order to avoid any new civilian casualties in Yugoslavia and to encourage the international community to put diplomacy first, as is now the case?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we hope that the bombing stops as soon as possible.

There will be a meeting between NATO military leaders and Yugoslavian military leaders to ensure that the bombing stops and troop withdrawal begins. That is why care must be taken not to move faster than necessary. We must be sure that things proceed in an orderly fashion so that the Kosovars can speedily and safely return to their homes.

I am very pleased with developments and, once again, I thank the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, who supported NATO's position throughout this entire painful but necessary period.

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

Mr. Speaker, in order to play a particularly active role, should Canada not initiate a proposal to the UN security council calling on the UN and its security council to immediately approve the G-8 plan? This would ensure that the troops that will establish peace in Kosovo will be under the UN banner.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and our representative to the United Nations have been working to try to find a solution for several weeks.

As I said earlier, it is much better that we be there under the United Nations banner than under the NATO banner. However, because of the Russian and Chinese vetoes, a resolution was not possible.

Talks are now under way. Canada is taking part and we are very confident that none of the countries with a veto will use it. Fortunately, we will be in Yugoslavia to protect the Kosovars under the UN banner, which is—

[The Speaker]

I am sorry to interrupt the Right Hon. Prime Minister. The hon. member for Beauharnois—Salaberry.

[Daniel Turp, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, not only does the peace agreement offer a true glimmer of hope, but it also means that the Yugoslav parliament has accepted, with a vote before its people, all of the conditions set by the G-8. This is an extremely significant event.

However, the signatory of the peace agreement is still someone who has been accused before the International Criminal Tribunal.

My question is for the Prime Minister. What will the Government of Canada's attitude be toward this person, who has been accused before the International Criminal Tribunal?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has used the word accused. He is an accused person. In our system, an accused person is innocent until proven guilty.

He is the president of the country and the one with whom the President of Finland and Russian special envoy Chernomyrdin have been dealing.

We want to be sure he respects this commitment. Our experience with President Milosevic has been that he very often does not keep his word.

That is why we are still being cautious. Until such time as the text has been clearly approved and the process of ending the bombing and withdrawing the troops has definitively begun, we will not be taking anything for granted.

[Daniel Turp, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, article 9 of the peace agreement just been approved calls for:

a stability pact for southeastern Europe and extensive international participation so as to advance democracy, economic prosperity, stability and international co-operation.

Is Canada contemplating any specific steps for participation in the reconstruction of the region and of the Balkans?