Debates of March 13th, 2000

Foreign Affairs

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore for raising this very crucial issue in the House.

It is absolutely true that added to the enormous suffering which the people of Mozambique have experienced is the new danger caused by the dislodgement of thousands of land mines which had previously been demarcated or carefully mapped. What we now face is an urgent request from the Mozambique Mine Action Centre for help.

I am pleased to announce today, with the co-operation of the Minister of National Defence and the Minister for International Cooperation, that we are the first country to respond by adding half a million dollars to the already $12 million we put into mine action programs in Mozambique.

Human Resources Development

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I quote from a letter from the deputy minister of human resources which says “Since June, when the interim audit report became available, we have devoted intensive and sustained management attention to this file”.

The minister claims that she was completely ignorant about the interim audit, but we have to wonder what she thought everyone in her department was actually doing during this period of “intensive and sustained management attention”. Perhaps there was an extended fire drill. Or, how about a 911 exercise? Maybe there was a crisis management therapy session.

Either the minister did not have a clue what was going on in her department or she has not been telling Canadians the whole story. Which is it?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, when I received the results of the internal audit, without question I took them seriously. I advised the department to strengthen its management report and when the whole audit was completed we made it public.

The six point plan that we are now implementing, which has had the benefit of advice from the auditor general, from outside third parties, is being implemented. I have had the pleasure of going to talk with departmental officials in Calgary and Toronto and in other parts of the country and they are doing their job.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, they may be doing their job, but it is the minister we are asking about.

The communications plan and the strategy were ready to go in August, but the minister waited until January to release the information on the audit and only after she received an access to information request. We have been giving the minister the benefit of the doubt. We thought she was simply not up to the job, but now we see something even worse. It appears she followed a plan down to a t , which was to hunker down, batten down the hatches and hope that no one asked about the audit until it was old news.

Why did she try to hide the fact that she mismanaged $1 billion in her department?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member cared to pay attention he would know that even the data collection for the audit was not completed until the early part of the fall. He would understand in the course of an internal audit that once the data is collected the management team has to prepare the response. He would understand that as minister, when I received this information, I took it seriously and I said that the management response was not strong enough. It was strengthened and when the whole report was completed we chose to make it public.

Health Care

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

Mr. Speaker, it is now day 10 since Ralph Klein launched the most concerted and comprehensive attack on medicare in the history of this country and the health minister says he is still studying it. He says that they do not know what they are going to do at this point.

One thing we do know is that this government paved the way for privatization by signing a secret 12 point deal with Alberta in 1996, and went so far as to fire a former health minister for trying to stop the deal.

The minister says he does not know what to do, but today he can start by rescinding the deal and saying no to Ralph Klein. Will he do that?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we know exactly what to do. It is to work with other governments to renew medicare. That is exactly what we are doing with the NDP governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. We are working constructively to do things that will help. We do not believe that private for profit hospitals are going to help. The experience so far is that they have longer waiting lists and higher costs and there are real questions about quality.

I would like to know why will the NDP not join in the effort to renew medicare instead of aligning itself with those who would destroy it?

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all it is unbelievable that the government after 10 days is in no position yet to say no to Ralph Klein and the destruction of medicare. It is unbelievable that he pretends that a deal his government signed in 1996 does not exist when in fact section 11 of that deal is the forerunner to Bill 11 now before the Alberta legislature.

If the government is serious about doing something about medicare, it would rescind its own deal and say absolutely no to Ralph Klein. Will the minister do it?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, that is unalloyed nonsense. There is no deal between governments. There are principles that the Alberta government proclaimed. They will not stand in the way of the enforcement of the Canada Health Act.

The real issue is why is the NDP the defender of the status quo? We want to work to renew medicare. It thinks that simply pouring billions into the old system will work. It will not. Why does it not join with us toward constructive change?

Agriculture

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, spring is just around the corner and right now many farmers are trying to find cash to put the crop in. Many of them are not being very successful.

The AIDA program has been like a mirage to a dying person. Right now, today, only $500 million of that money has been distributed and put into farmers' pockets.

Will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food stand today and admit that he has failed Canadian farmers for the 2000 crop year?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is a slow learner, but the applications after the 1999 business year have to be submitted by the farmers. As soon as those applications are submitted, we will begin processing them so that the farmers can get the cash.

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the slow learners come from that side of the House. Only $500 million has found its way to farmers' pockets. The crop has to go in this spring.

Of the $500 million that has been distributed, $35 million went to administer the program. Can the minister tell me why bureaucrats and bean counters can get their money that quickly but not our farmers?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, farmers could have applied for an interim application on their 1999 business year as far back as September, last fall. Only about 500 or 600 of the farmers chose to do that. The rest of them obviously have chosen to wait until they finish their business year, their book work and paperwork as a result of the 1999 business year and submit that. I can assure the hon. member that as soon as they do submit those, we will deal with those forms very quickly.

Health Care

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in this year's budget the Government of Canada committed a further $2.5 billion of health care transfers to the provinces. However some of the provincial premiers have suggested that the government is not doing its fair share.

Can the Minister of Health confirm to the House and to all Canadians the actual level of financial support provided to our health care system?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, over the last four budgets transfers to the provinces for health have increased. The result is that overall transfers are higher today than ever. Of the $60 billion spent every year on health by governments in this country, $20 billion is spent by the Government of Canada either directly or through the transfers to the provinces. Some $20 billion of $60 billion is from Ottawa.

The truth is that of all public health spending in Canada this year, fully one-third is contributed by the Government of Canada.

Human Resources Development

[Inky Mark, Reform, Dauphin—Swan River, MB]

Mr. Speaker, we have learned that a sock company in Quebec received $8.1 million under the transitional jobs fund in 1997. This is more than what the entire province of Manitoba received, yet the Minister of Human Resources Development stands up in the House and says the program was about creating jobs in a fair manner.

When will the minister stop socking it to the Canadian taxpayers and step down?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, let me again give the hon. member the real facts. Indeed with Bas Iris the original plan was to be worth $8.1 million but because of production losses the moneys that were transferred were $5.9 million. In fact 1,400 jobs were created, not only 1,400 jobs but an additional 40 jobs. This has been an important industrial, economic and social advantage to the area.

Public Works

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

Mr. Speaker, Public Works Canada agreed to transfer a building to Inter-Loge, a community group working in the field of social housing in my riding.

The department was to completely clean up the site and is now demanding that Inter-Loge finish the task at its own expense, which it cannot afford to do. So now, the department is threatening to take back the building and cause the group to lose its deposit of $62,000.

I would ask the Minister of Public Works to tell us what is happening in this matter and whether he has taken steps to protect Inter-Loge from losing its deposit.

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I would begin by telling the leader of the Bloc that there is no question of Inter-Loge's losing its deposit. If the agreement, which has already expired, cannot be renewed, negotiations will continue. Of course, the group will get its deposit.

In the meantime, I have asked my officials to continue negotiations, see if an agreement can be reached and come up with a solution to this problem. The problem is complex because the environmental impact is bigger than we first thought. So the situation needs to be reassessed, but already good—

[The Speaker]

The member for Acadie—Bathurst.

Gasoline Prices

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the price of gasoline is at a ten-year high, and this is bad for Canada's truckers and for Canadians in general. On Friday, the Minister of Labour asked her colleague, the Minister of Natural Resources, to do away with the federal tax on fuel.

Is the Minister of Natural Resources going to heed his colleague and all of the people of Canada and show some leadership in connection with the oil crisis?

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

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the issue of gasoline pricing, obviously any issue related to taxation would need to be referred to the Minister of Finance.

I think it would be important for the petroleum industry to take note of the level of public concern and to be very transparent in its pricing practices including the price of crude oil, the price for refining, processing, wholesaling, retailing and taxes. I think the public is entitled to know when those prices change, exactly by how much and why.

Human Resources Development

[André Harvey, Progressive Conservative, Chicoutimi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is not for the RCMP but for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

In 1995, there was an agreement between Alcan, its labour unions, and the provincial and federal governments. In recent months, the federal government has decided to withdraw from the program, while we are well aware that hundreds of jobs have been created and the government is getting its money back in taxes.

I am asking the minister why, since this is a worthwhile investment, she has pulled out of the partnership program with Alcan and its unionized workers.

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I will take the hon. member's question under advisement and apprise him of a response.

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, twice today the human resources minister told this House that she made the audit public when it was completed. How does this square with the facts?

The interim audit was available in June. The Liberals breathed not a word of its explosive contents. The audit was formally signed off in October. She asked the PCs to destroy that evidence. The minister was briefed in November. She kept telling the House all was well. We asked for the audit in January and finally she becomes transparent. How can she stand and tell Canadians—