House of Commons Hansard #239 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was support.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, one of the arguments of the Serbian generals to delay or block the Kosovo peace accord is the fact that the accord is not based, at the moment, on a United Nations security council resolution.
Could the Deputy Prime Minister indicate whether Canada will in fact put the peace plan proposed by the G-8 to the security council so a resolution may be adopted by it, thus eliminating one of the arguments of the Serbian generals?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, our Minister of Foreign Affairs is working with his G-8 counterparts to draft a resolution that will be put before the United Nations. Obviously the terms of this resolution will be in keeping with the position of NATO and the G-8 countries.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the other important argument is the fact that the Serbs are saying they are unable to evacuate Kosovo because of the damage done to roads, bridges, infrastructure and even to their trucks and weapons.
Could the Deputy Prime Minister tell us whether these arguments advanced by the Serbian generals are valid and, if that is the case, could Canada not contemplate having the peace plan apply over a somewhat longer period?
Julian Reed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that those details are all being discussed today in Bonn. As a matter of fact, at the present time we are waiting for a report at the end of that meeting. I will do my best to try to convey to the House anything that comes out of that meeting before three o'clock.
Daniel Turp Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Mr. Speaker, this weekend technical discussions were held between Yugoslav and NATO military commanders on implementation of the peace plan approved by the parliament in Belgrade last week. These negotiations appear to be hung up on details, on technical issues.
In light of the impasse, does the Canadian government believe that more negotiating time is needed in order to work out these details, and just how much time?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, this House is not the right place for negotiating with the Serbs. The negotiating must be left to our military spokespersons and the military spokespersons of NATO.
They are prepared to resume these discussions but, if no agreement is forthcoming, the air attacks will continue because our position is clear, as is the position of NATO: the Yugoslav government must honour its commitment to accept the G-8 peace plan.
Daniel Turp Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Mr. Speaker, if we have understood correctly, if we give more time to the Milosevic regime, we also want to continue, and even step up, the air strikes.
I would like to know whether the government is in agreement with both maintaining and stepping up the air strikes during this period of negotiations.
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, these steps will represent the consensus of the G-8 and NATO countries, and we are part of that consensus.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities met in Halifax on the weekend and once again urged the federal government to do something about our homelessness crisis.
We used to have a minister of housing with a budget. Now we have a minister of homelessness with no budget. As one mayor said, “all Ottawa did was send us a nice minister with no money”.
When can Canadians look forward to having an effective minister with the budget to get the job done?
Claudette Bradshaw LiberalMinister of Labour
Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the hon. member that I am not the minister for homelessness. I am the Minister of Labour. I was asked to co-ordinate homelessness.
I was at the FCM meeting. I met with the FCM executive. The hon. member for Oak Ridges will to continue to meet with the FCM. We are going to take its report and look at its recommendations. I want to assure every Canadian that something will be done on homelessness.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, to date not one homeless person has been helped by this minister.
The municipalities have made homelessness a priority. They have done their homework and produced a detailed plan of action.
When will the federal government accept its responsibility, do its homework and play its part in developing an effective housing strategy? When will the government show some leadership?
Claudette Bradshaw LiberalMinister of Labour
Mr. Speaker, the government started when it appointed me as a conciliator. It appointed 19 different departments that we are now working with. We have done something.
We want to make sure that this time when we come with recommendations for homelessness that it is sustainable, that we fix it and that we never see the problem happening again in the country.
David Price Progressive Conservative Compton—Stanstead, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of National Defence stated that the KLA needs to disarm. General Shelton, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said yesterday “We never said we were going to disarm the KLA”. Not everyone is on the same page here.
My question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Are NATO and NATO peacekeepers going to disarm the KLA or not?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the answer is contained in the agreement that was reached between the Serbian government and parliament and the G-8 countries. That is where the answer lies to the hon. member's question.
David Price Progressive Conservative Compton—Stanstead, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am afraid that is far from it.
We do not need another Somalia. Soldiers must know and understand the rules of engagement because it is very likely that our troops will find themselves in Serb areas defending Serbs from the KLA.
What are Canada's rules of engagement for dealing with armed members of the KLA? Are they to be disarmed or not?
Robert Bertrand LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister has stated that the rules are contained in the agreement. If the hon. member would like to check them, I am sure he would find his answer.
Chuck Strahl Reform Fraser Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Grand-Mère golf course stands to benefit from government grants and loans given to a neighbouring hotel. It also benefited financially by selling $500,000 worth of land to the recipient of a government contract.
The Prime Minister called the ethics counsellor in January 1996 to warn him that the sale of his shares in the Grand-Mère golf course had fallen through. In other words, he admitted that he was now in a conflict of interest and he asked the ethics counsellor what he should do.
Well, if he saw that it was a conflict of interest in 1996, why can he not see that it is still a conflict of interest today?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the ethics counsellor did not find a conflict of interest. There was no conflict of interest. There is no conflict of interest.
Chuck Strahl Reform Fraser Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, maybe we should take a crack at what is a conflict of interest. An interest is when two parties have a common stake in something. In this case it is the Prime Minister and the taxpayers.
The conflict comes in when there is a direct opposition to those two interests. In this case it is the Prime Minister's personal financial interest and that of the taxpayers. They are in conflict. Everyone can see that they are in conflict.
The Prime Minister admitted in 1996 that he was in conflict. Why will he not admit today he was in conflict of interest and make this bad situation right?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the premise of the hon. member's question is wrong. The Prime Minister made no such admission.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister has no financial interest in the golf course in question, so the hon. member is wrong again, as was his colleague in her previous question.
They are wrong, wrong, wrong, and they are taking up the time of the House just to hide the fact that the united alternative policy is destroying their party. Why do they not admit that and let us get on with some serious business for the people of Canada?
Maurice Dumas Bloc Argenteuil—Papineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, we read in the Ottawa Citizen that the law firm of Roy Heenan, a lawyer sitting on the CBC's board of directors, has been awarded generous contracts by the CBC, with the blessing of the government's ethics counsellor.
My question is for the Prime Minister. In the case of Mr. Heenan, is the government's ethics counsellor not demonstrating that he is merely a pawn of the Prime Minister by magically declaring ethical that which is not?
Mauril Bélanger LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, it is well established in Canadian law that the director of a crown or other corporation may have interests in the corporation in question, provided those interests are declared, that they are recorded in the corporation's minutes, and that the individual in question does not take part in discussions or votes on the contract in question.
Maurice Dumas Bloc Argenteuil—Papineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, I would have liked to hear what the Prime Minister had to say.
By offering an accommodating ruling in the Heenan case, the ethics counsellor loses a lot of credibility. Does the Prime Minister realize that his own defence in the Auberge Grand-Mère case is consequently seriously weakened, involving as it does the judgment of this same ethics counsellor?
Mauril Bélanger LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, it is not an accommodating ruling; it is an established and accepted principle in Canadian law.
When someone sits on the board of directors of a crown or other corporation, that person may have interests, provided that he declares them and that he takes no part in discussions or votes, and Mr. Heenan meets both conditions.
Diane Ablonczy Reform Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps telling this House that he sold his shares in the Grand-Mère golf course in 1993, but his lawyer says that she has been trying to sell those shares for three years. Who is telling the truth?