Debates of April 12th, 2000

Rcmp

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, what this government is committed to is public safety. As I indicated previously, this government showed how committed it is to public safety by putting $115 million in place to ensure that the CPIC computer system is there for the RCMP and all other police forces across the country.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the $115 million in the budget for the RCMP will not even meet its existing needs, let alone its projected increases.

The auditor general said:

There are delays of more than two months in entering records of new criminals and new crimes of old criminals into the system, and some files have taken over five months.

The reason for the backlog is a lack of available funds to hire staff.

Why is it this government finds billions of dollars for so-called job creation through HRDC, but will not create the necessary jobs in the RCMP?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague does not understand that the $115 million was put in place to modernize CPIC, the computer system that is used by the RCMP and other police forces across the country. As he indicated, the backlog of criminal records has been cut by 40% and we expect that it will be eliminated by the end of the year.

We are making progress and we will continue to address the problems that the auditor general has identified.

Human Resources Development

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

Mr. Speaker, we have finally found out what happened to the Placeteco grant.

Claude Gauthier, the owner, says that $1,060,000 went to the National Bank, $50,000 to Globax, and $80,000 to Placeteco's working capital. That is how it shapes up.

Is the minister still going to claim that she has invoices proving that jobs were created at Placeteco when the owner himself says that the grant money went somewhere else?

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

Mr. Speaker, the facts of our relationship with this company have not changed. There is no basis for an overpayment. We have invoices that support the investment that we have made and 170 people continue to be employed.

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, there are 78 jobs at Placeteco; the owner himself said so. We are talking about Placeteco, a grant that went to Placeteco and not to Globax.

What is going on here is troubling. The owner says that the money went to Globax, the National Bank and the working capital, and the minister tells us that she has invoices showing that jobs were created. There is a contradiction.

The only way to straighten this out and hang on to the small bit of credibility she still has left is to table the invoices showing that jobs were created at Placeteco—not at Techni-Paint, not at Globax. And despite what the owner himself says—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.

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

Mr. Speaker, indeed some of the jobs we talk about are in a company in the riding of the hon. leader's own member. I think that member supports the jobs at Techni-Paint and the jobs at Placeteco. We are talking about 170 people who otherwise would not be employed. We think that is the right thing to do.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a real shame. The admission by Claude Gauthier, of Placeteco, in a televised report, that the $1.2 million grant went to pay off a loan to the National Bank and bolster his company's working capital proves that the minister does not have the invoices proving jobs were created.

With Claude Gauthier's statement, will the minister now admit that she does not have the invoices proving jobs were created, because, quite simply, no jobs were created?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me say again, there is no reason or basis for an overpayment. We have the invoices. We have people working. It would seem that the Bloc suggests that it was not appropriate for us to stick with these two companies to ensure that the people who are now working would have the opportunity to work. I think we have chosen the right approach. I think the Bloc's approach is wrong.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the problem for the minister is that the Prime Minister himself said in this House that all grants not used to create jobs were to be repaid. This is exactly what the Vidéotron group did.

Now that it is clear that the $1.2 million grant to Placeteco was used for purposes other than creating jobs, will the minister demand the immediate repayment of the grant?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me repeat that there is no basis for an overpayment.

We have investigated this file thoroughly. The invoices are there to support the investment, and men and women are working.

Health

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in a legal opinion released earlier today by the Canadian Health Coalition, trade lawyer Barry Appleton described Alberta as going down a one-way street toward health care privatization.

Here is what he said: “Under NAFTA, a province cannot experiment with for-profit health care because the process will be irreversible”.

In last week's letter to Alberta, the health minister acknowledged that Bill 11 may have implications which will be felt in provinces and territories across the country.

In view of that, what is the government's response to the NAFTA threat?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we made our position very clear last week when I wrote to the Alberta minister of health.

We identified four respects in which we thought there were difficulties with Bill 11. In particular, we asked that the bill be amended to prohibit the sale of enhanced medical services along with insured services in a private for profit facility.

We contend that that combination imperils the principle of accessibility, which is fundamental to the Canada Health Act.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we can continue to try to ignore Mr. Appleton's opinion, but the last time Mr. Appleton weighed in on an important trade issue was in the case of the gasoline additive MMT. Mr. Appleton was right, the Government of Canada was wrong, and it cost us $20 million. If we get it wrong this time it will cost us our health care system.

Will the government address the NAFTA implications, or will it risk losing Canada's health care system?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is a little behind the times. Why should this issue be any different?

If the member would look at the record, she would see that in my correspondence with Minister Jonson in November of last year, I squarely raised the NAFTA issue and identified the risk which that issue presents to the health care system of Canada.

Foreign Affairs

[André Bachand, Progressive Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 24 hours the Prime Minister has succeeded in shocking Palestinian people on the issue of East Jerusalem.

Then, to get back on their good side, he said he would recognize a new declaration of independence of Palestine, making the Israeli people angry.

Yesterday, to try to fix his mistake, the PM made a comment about one of the most explosive subjects in the peace process in the Middle East, the ownership of the Sea of Galilee.

Once again, our message has to be heard. Will the cabinet bring the PM home before the next mistake du jour in the Middle East?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians should be proud of the fact that the Prime Minister is carrying out the first bilateral visit to this region by any Canadian Prime Minister.

I understand our Prime Minister has been warmly welcomed by the leaders he has met and all have been pleased with Canada's participation in the region. No negative comments have been raised during these private talks, or indeed in the media in that area.

[André Bachand, Progressive Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that makes three strikes in three days. If it were baseball, the Prime Minister would be out.

[Some hon. members]

Out.

[André Bachand, Progressive Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

What I can say is that the Prime Minister is busy rewriting Canadian foreign policy all by himself. Officially, Canada's foreign policy does not recognize Israeli control over the territories occupied in 1967, including the Golan heights.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please.

[André Bachand, Progressive Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have never seen so many spin doctors at work at the same time.

What I can say is that the Prime Minister is contradicting Canada's foreign policy, which can be found on its Internet site.

Is it not true that the Prime Minister is screwing up Canada's current foreign policy?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, an important, non-partisan observer in the region, Professor Menachem Magidor, president of the Hebrew University, said:

We admire Canada...because of its commitment towards peace and prosperity. And we are all aware that it is due to your personal leadership and courage, Mr. Prime Minister, that Canada is a major player—