House of Commons Hansard #70 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was c-16.

Topics

Employment InsuranceOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no contradiction.

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Gerald Keddy Progressive Conservative South Shore, NS

Mr. Speaker, DFO is buying back licences which will then be given to aboriginal fishers. Traditionally fishers have entered the industry by purchasing their own licences and boats. Low interest loans could be made available to first nations.

Will the minister commit today to selling licences and boats to aboriginal fishers to make sure everyone enters the industry on an equal footing?

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Vancouver South—Burnaby B.C.

Liberal

Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, what we have done is we have followed the consultations.

The hon. member and the fishing community have said that one of the ways to bring new entrants into the fishery is through a voluntary buyback of licences. Of course some of those include a whole enterprise, not just the licences themselves. That is exactly what we are doing. Through a voluntary retirement program we are buying up licences to make sure that we follow the law and follow the supreme court ruling which recognized the treaty that the Mi'kmaq signed more than 240 years ago.

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Gerald Keddy Progressive Conservative South Shore, NS

Mr. Speaker, buying back fishing licences from non-natives has nothing to do with the treaty that we signed 200 years ago.

The minister also knows that the fishing season will be opening in only a few weeks. He also knows on top of that that there must be organization and regulation in the fishery that will not be sprung upon fishers at the last minute.

Can the minister tell us what existing regulations the federal negotiator has given up in order to get agreements in place for the new season?

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Vancouver South—Burnaby B.C.

Liberal

Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to announce to the House that we already have two signed agreements with the first nations bands. Discussions are going on at this moment. I hope that in the near future I will be able to announce more.

We said from day one that resolving this problem would be through dialogue and through sitting around the table and negotiating, unlike the Tories who said to use the notwithstanding clause to take away the treaty rights won by the supreme court. We rejected that position.

National ParksOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Rick Limoges Liberal Windsor—St. Clair, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are becoming increasingly concerned that our beloved national parks might lose their lustre and environmental significance if usage and development are not properly controlled in accordance with a sustainable long term plan.

Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage report on her plans for action to ensure ecological integrity in our national parks?

National ParksOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Hamilton East Ontario

Liberal

Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased to have that question today when the students of Buchanan Park School of the city of Hamilton are here, precisely because the ecological integrity panel today tabled a report that will preserve our national parks not only for our grandchildren but for their grandchildren.

They gave us the template. They gave us the blueprint. It is our responsibility to follow this blueprint to make sure that ecological integrity is the number one priority to save every single park in Canada.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Reform

Dave Chatters Reform Athabasca, AB

Mr. Speaker, the majority of information that has landed the human resources minister in hot water has been gathered through the Access to Information Act. I can see now why she might want to stonewall, but the law of Canada says that the minister must provide access information within 30 days. We now have 30 requests past 30 days.

Does the minister realize that by stonewalling beyond 30 days she is breaking the law of Canada?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

The Speaker

Once we get into terms like breaking the law, we are getting into criminal activity. I cut one member off already today for using that term. Therefore I am going to say that this question is out of order.

CinarOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Bloc

Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Verchères, QC

Mr. Speaker, we now know that several millions of CINAR's money was invested with Norshield International in the Bahamas.

This might well lead certain people to think that part of that sum might have come from public funds. Norshield International boasts of being a banking institution where, in its own words, financial discretion is de rigueur and customers benefit from immunity against foreign tax investigation.

Given the serious charges of tax fraud facing CINAR, does the Minister of Revenue not think he ought to launch a proper departmental investigation into this entire matter?

CinarOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Outremont Québec

Liberal

Martin Cauchon LiberalMinister of National Revenue and Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)

Mr. Speaker, as I have said on numerous occasions, first, my colleague at Heritage Canada has already called for an investigation into the CINAR affair, and this is currently under way.

Second, as far as questions on a specific case, hon. members are aware, as are all Canadians, that there is a principle of confidentiality that has to be respected. No comments can therefore be made about the CINAR case.

It is also obvious that, when questions such as these are raised about a given company, the customs and revenue agency does its job.

TaxationOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Lorne Nystrom NDP Qu'Appelle, SK

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

Today is the one year anniversary of the House passing my private member's bill calling on the government to enact in concert with other countries a tax on currency speculation, the so-called Tobin tax.

Will the minister tell us what he intends to do to further the idea of the Tobin tax around the world? More specifically, if he is still the Minister of Finance in the fall, will he put this at the top of the agenda in terms of Canada's item at the G-20 summit that he is about to host?

TaxationOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the idea of the Tobin tax passed by most members of the House and certainly by all members on this side of the House has been raised on numerous occasions at G-7 meetings and the IMF.

Unfortunately a number of the major financial markets do not support the plan, albeit we will continue to work on it. That being said, the G-20 is the ideal forum to deal with the many ways of dealing with speculation and that is what we will be doing at the meeting. I will be delighted to report to the hon. member if he is still a member of parliament in the fall.

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Mark Muise Progressive Conservative West Nova, NS

Mr. Speaker, spring has arrived yet the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has failed in his promise to negotiate a plan to regulate the Atlantic fishery.

Can the minister tell us how he intends to regulate a native food fishery so that we do not encounter the same abuses we have encountered in the past?

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Vancouver South—Burnaby B.C.

Liberal

Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, we are regulating the fishery at this time. If there is any unauthorized fishing, we will take enforcement action as we have been taking it. It is the same with the food fishery. We will ensure that we enforce the food fishery and if there is a food fishery it will remain a food fishery. We will ensure that we have appropriate enforcement to ensure that there will be no unauthorized fishing. We will have enforcement to back that up.

The EnvironmentOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Julian Reed Liberal Halton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment is attending Globe 2000 in Vancouver this week, one of the world's most prestigious business and environment events.

Can the parliamentary secretary assure Canadians that the Minister of the Environment will take advantage of the presence of policymakers from around the world to encourage action abroad?

The EnvironmentOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Burlington Ontario

Liberal

Paddy Torsney LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, Globe 2000 provides a unique opportunity for Canadian governments and businesses to showcase their initiatives in the area of climate change particularly to demonstrate that Canada is taking a lead role in meeting the challenges with climate change technologies.

We have talented individuals who are meeting that challenge. Canada is taking the lead to create solutions to meet the diversity of challenges in achieving economic growth and the long term environmental health of the whole world.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Reform

Grant McNally Reform Dewdney—Alouette, BC

Mr. Speaker, while the minister speaks about transparency, we can see right through her. The minister has HRDC audits sitting on her shelf, yet she refuses to release them. She is ignoring ATI guidelines. She is ignoring Treasury Board guidelines. This can hardly be described as transparent. Why will she not simply release this information immediately?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member gives me the chance to yet again remind the House of the 10,000 pages of information that were provided in the interests of transparency and openness.

It is my department that made the internal audit public. It is Reform researchers who talk about the Department of Human Resources Development as being a model under the access to information system.

I must say that we have had 300 requests for information since the beginning of the year. My department is working very hard to accommodate the interests of those and we will have the information available as soon as we can.

IraqOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Maud Debien Bloc Laval East, QC

Mr. Speaker, a Canadian mission just back from Iraq has told us that the international embargo and sanctions against this country are a source of unnecessary suffering for the population and are allowing the Iraqi regime to profit from a black market that has very quickly sprung up.

My question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Given these facts, and given that Canada is slow to take a clear stand on this issue, when is the government going to show some leadership so that the security council will reconsider this embargo, which is not attaining its objectives?

IraqOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Winnipeg South Centre Manitoba

Liberal

Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, the government has taken a leadership role. We have commissioned a major study of the broad application of sanctions by the International Peace Academy.

We will be tabling that report at the United Nations in early April. We have also reserved during the month of April, when we are president of the council, that we will have a broad ranging review of the application of sanctions by the security council.

National ParksOral Question Period

3 p.m.

NDP

Dennis Gruending NDP Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK

Mr. Speaker, the report from the panel on the ecological integrity of Canada's national parks repeated what Canadians have known for years, and that is that our parks are in jeopardy.

This summer Canadians want to be greeted by Parks Canada personnel at the gates, to be educated by guides in the parks and to know that there will be water in the showers.

Will this be the vacation memory shared by millions of Canadians or will we see closed facilities and Liberal promises for yet another year?

National ParksOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Hamilton East Ontario

Liberal

Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations of the report on ecological integrity is that not only do we need interpreters to explore with us the ecosystems of the parks but we also need to return to the park a sense of the aboriginal presence which has been in those lands for 4,000 years and which today is not present in the park system.

I am very pleased with the recommendations of the report that call for a stronger interconnection between aboriginal peoples, interpretation of aboriginal history and also interpretation of ecological integrity, which should be part of the shared parks experience that people will get this summer when they go to our parks.

Presence In GalleryOral Question Period

3 p.m.

The Speaker

I draw the attention of the hon. members to the presence in our gallery of the seven recipients of the first Governor General's awards in visual and media arts.

We offer our heartiest congratulations to these very talented artists.

I invite members to join them at a reception in my Chambers at the end of question period.

I introduce to you Jocelyne Alloucherie, Ghitta Caiserman-Roth, John Chalke, Jacques Giraldeau, John Scott, Michael Snow and Doris Shadbolt.

Presence In GalleryOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.